The tension between the two wings of the GOP rose to the surface during the recent battle over the debt ceiling, which then exploded into a war of words between former Republican Senator Alan Simpson and Grover Norquist, head of the right-wing outfit, Americans for Tax Reform.

What makes the right's assault on the mandate so disingenuous is that virtually everyone in America -- from "Tea Party" adherents to supporters of Single Payer -- agrees that no one should be denied health care when they need it.

Win or lose, the Tea Party movement will come away from the elections triumphant, having injected into the GOP a group of candidates pledged to the dismantling of government and wed to the religious right.